Scotland finish twelfth in World Junior Team event
Scotland finished as the second highest European team and twelfth overall in the World Junior Mixed Team Championships
Three good wins in the opening three matches guaranteed Scotland would finish at least second in Group F and a 5-0 defeat to third seeds Korea confirmed the Scots as group runners-up.
The result meant they progressed into the play-off draw for positions 9-16 in the world and they wasted no time in despatching Sri Lanka in their opening play-off match.
Matthew Grimley and Rachel Andrew lost the opening set in their mixed doubles but bounced back strongly, beating Hasini Nusaka Ambalangodage and Gunatilleke Sewmina 22-24 21-19 21-8 to get Scotland off to a winning start.
Christopher Grimley won his singles match to give the Scots a 2-0 lead but Rachel Sugden couldn’t make it three when she lost her girls’ singles tie.
But Christopher and Matthew Grimley returned to the court and wrapped up the win in the boys’ doubles, beating Chamath Dias and Gavin Dulsith Moragoda 21-12 21-14.
The win sets up a tie against Singapore, who beat England 3-0, and means Scotland will finish as the second highest placed European team in these Championships after France were beaten by Thailand and Sweden lost to Hong Kong.
Only Denmark, who are in the play-offs for positions 1-8, will finish above Scotland in the European pecking order.
Speaking afterwards Head Coach Robert Blair said: “It was a good 3-1 win against Sri Lanka today.
“In the mixed we had a lacklustre start, but they imposed themselves when needed and they won the third set comfortably.
“The singles were split before the twins controlled the doubles match to give us victory.
“It was another strong performance and sets us up well for the tie against Singapore.”
Against Singapore, the Grimleys got Scotland off to a great start, winning their boys’ doubles encounter 21-15 24-22, but losses in the singles for Joshua Apiliga and Sugden gave Singapore a 2-1 lead.
And despite an outstanding effort from Lauren Middleton and Sarah Sidebottom, Singapore sealed victory with a 16-21 21-15 30-29 win in the girls’ doubles to leave Scotland with a match against Hong Kong on Saturday.
A 3-0 defeat to the Asian powerhouse meant Scotland finished in twelfth overall and the second highest European team, with only Denmark ahead of them.
The players will now compete in the individual events where Christopher Grimley is tenth seed in the singles and he and brother Matthew are fourth seeds in the doubles.
Full results are at www.tournamentsoftware.com